ever seen hard of this happening

at a 10u tournament this past weekend, championship game, 2 umpires for the game (all other games had one).

after second inning, the two umpires switch roles. never seen this before or even heard of it. end of 4th, they switch again.

my thing is, hitters, catchers, and pitchers are just figuring out first umpires strike zone by end of second, then htye have to start all over again. I always tell my DD (not a pitcher, but as a hitter), she needs to adjust to umpires strike zone, as they will surely not adapt to what you think it should be (she has a habit of being too choosy), that all you ask is consistency. what do you tell them in this instance?

I have never seen them switch in the middle of a game, especially a championship game. But there also should have been two umpires for every game! What were you playing in?

gamommax3 said:

I have never seen them switch in the middle of a game, especially a championship game. But there also should have been two umpires for every game! What were you playing in?

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Many tournaments will go one umpire for pool play games and two for bracket games. We were in a tournament a few years ago that had one umpire for pool and bracket games. One of the coaches from the organization who was sponsoring the event was questioning the head of the organization why there was only one umpire in brackets. His response was "Because we're cheap!"

Sometimes for training purposes umpires will be rotated to different positions on the field while a trainer watches and gives instruction. But, this is almost always during a practice game or scrimmage, never a tournament game. The only time a plate umpire should be switched out during an actual game is when they become incapacitated for some reason.

Comp said:

Sometimes for training purposes umpires will be rotated to different positions on the field while a trainer watches and gives instruction. But, this is almost always during a practice game or scrimmage, never a tournament game. The only time a plate umpire should be switched out during an actual game is when they become incapacitated for some reason.

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When my DD played college ball the coach did a RR one weekend in each fall that was coordinated with an umpire training class. They would rotate the umpires during the games to the different positions and in/out of the games. The umpires would receive the experience and instant feedback from the instructors. The coach got free umpires for the weekend. It was a win/win for everyone involved.

Comp said:

The only time a plate umpire should be switched out during an actual game is when they become incapacitated for some reason.

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Is this an actual rule or best practice?

GunnerShotgun said:

Is this an actual rule or best practice?

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I will have to find it but there is a rule in the USA book about an umpire may not be replaced after the game starts. Its a small blurb somewhere in there, will have to look for it.

Dang, opened book and it fell to the exact page. Rule 10, Section 2 Change of Umpires. Teams may not request a change of umpires during a game. No umpire may be replaced during a game unless incapacitated by injury or illness.

Cubs la game cubs C missed pitch and hit ump right in facemask. He was loopy for a few minutes, I do not think he knew what his name was.

But in OP Umpire was not replaced, just changed position?

I saw this happen at state tournament. Very hot and HP got very sick. No problem. Tough on pitchers to learn a new strike zone but safety first. That includes everyone including umps. Haven't watched it as described in the OP.

If it was rec ball, or a training day, I completely understand switching umps. Also understand them switching ONCE if they ump was sick, overheated, or incapacitated somehow. But with any decent organization's tournaments, there should be a minimum of two umpires on each field and they should stay where they started the game. If they had two at the championship game, chances are they were short on umpires for the day. That stinks!